I know lot's of thread on this problem but none match my issue it seems.. Car's cooling is working fine then all of a sudden the temp gauge pegs and no heat from heater, I limp the thing home luckily without major issue although it was near below zero outside air temp when this happened. I replaced the T-stat and it still is overheating and no heat from heater. Radiator is cold along with every other hose, only thing that is hot is the engine. Radiator was replaced 15,000 miles ago. Cooling fan works fine. Could this be the water pump? Anyone ever hear of a water pump failing mechanically? The pump is not leaking.. I'm about to replace the pump but figured I would ask here before I pull the trigger and get greasy.. Thanks!!!!

 

The water pump is usually the last item to consider when you have an overheating problem.

The water pump can fail. How often do you change the coolant? Does it have a rusty color, or is it still green?

When was the water pump last replaced? Is the timing belt due soon?

 

I agree last resort on the water pump, that's why I find it hard to believe it has failed... Timing belt and water pump was replaced about 25,000 miles ago, anti-freeze looks good. I know they used an OEM timing belt but I do not know what they used for a water pump. 145,000 miles on the car overall.

 

Just to rule it out. Have you tried pulling the t-stat, bleed the air out while heater is set to max heat of course, and see if the issue is still there-I know you just replaced it but I've seen strange things before. Also while it is out you can get an idea of how the pump is doing, since the coolant should flow almost as soon as you start the car...just an idea.

 

I installed a Honda T-stat today among other things still have the same issue, then just before I finished working on it for the night I decided to actually check what the anti freeze was rated for and low and behold my tester showed only 10 degrees!!!!!! I'm figuring now the radiator must be froze up STILL, the daily temp really has not got above freezing since this happened... This is what you get when you buy a car from Arizona!!! I will work on it more tomorrow, temps are suppose to get warmer tomorrow...

 

That's why I cringe when someone posts that they live where it's hot & don't need antifreeze. The bad thing is that it's missing the anti-corrosion properties of the anti-freeze. Unfortunately, you'll have to suspect serious corrosion as well as a still-frozen radiator.

 

Fixed!!! Frozen radiator, crazy deal for sure.. Took quite a bit to thaw the thing out, today was the first day above freezing since it happened and my garage is not heated.... Had to get my 65,000 BTU torpedo heater on it for about 45 minutes. I'm glad that's over with, it runs slightly cooler now also. A bit of advice to you southern folk, treat your cooling system like you live in great white north, check your coolant rating when you buy a used car!!!! Also buy Honda OEM T-stats, they are built much better than the after market crap....

 

THANK YOU for letting us know the fix (lots of people dissapear & never say).

You might want to change the antifreeze again before too many months go by. Or at least keep the corrosion question in the back of your mind next time anything funny happens with your cooling system.

You tested the coolant for specific gravity - that tells you the freeze temperature rating. That does NOT tell you whether the corrosion protection is "used up".

 

Just one more "over heating" thread to add to the list with a unique fix...
I'll flush it again this spring right now I'm tired of looking under the hood of this "project" car... This 92 must have been made on a Sunday, so many more issues with thing than my old 91 that had 300,000 miles on it, should have kept that one...

 

You didn't mention this, but did you drain the coolant and replace with a 50:50 mix?